Strictly star JB Gill says his secret weapon on the dance floor is his wife – even if her criticism does get on his nerves. JB, 37, who has been married to dancer Chloe since 2014, says she has been cheering him and partner Amy Dowden on during rehearsals. And while he says he does get annoyed with her at the time, he admits her advice is on point.

Speaking on Mirror podcast Invite Only, he said: “When Chloe was watching us rehearse the cha cha, there was always a moment about 20 seconds from the end where she would shout: ‘Whoah, lets go!’ And I would be like: ‘Stop, you’re putting me off, I can’t concentrate.’ Her response was: ‘Yeah, but you need it, you’re getting tired, and it doesn’t look good.’

“But then she gave me brownie points after the show, because the BBC released an audio clip taken from the live microphones, and in the last section – at the exact moment she would always shout – you can hear me go: ‘Whoah!’ and Amy went: ‘Yeah!’ I have to admit, it was the energy we needed. Chloe has been incredibly supportive. She comes from the dance world, so she gets it. My family are as much involved in this process as I am – even if they aren’t on the dance floor.”

JB is married to Chloe ( 
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jbgill/Instagram)

Brendan branded Amy and JB’s waltz ‘dull’ despite them topping the leaderboard in the first week ( 
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Guy Levy/BBC/PA)
JB is also being supported by his JLS bandmates – including Aston Merrygold, who joined the show in 2017 but was controversially voted out in week seven. And he admitted that Aston sees his bid for the Strictly glitterball as a chance at redemption. He went on: “The boys are all really supportive. Amy came to the last date of the JLS tour, so we had a sort of handing over from JLS duties to Strictly duties.

“Aston knows Amy, so he said to me: ‘Look, you’ve got a great dancer, just keep working hard.’ He was not happy with the scores last week – he told me I was undermarked. Because his exit was a shock, he wants redemption now – he wants me to go all the way this year. But Amy and I are just putting one step in front of another, we’re taking one week, one dance, and one step at a time. For me, I’ve watched Amy on the show, so I knew she was an incredibly talented dancer. What I didn’t know until now was how great she is as a teacher. I feel very honoured to be dancing with her.”

JB Gill performs with JLS ( 
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Getty Images)
JB, who shot to fame on X Factor in 2008 with JLS, has faced a backlash over his dance experience with the band. But he said – on Amy’s orders – he has actually had to unlearn a lot of his dancing style before being able to pick up the ballroom routines. And he said he was so scared ahead of the launch show that he could barely walk in a straight line.

He said: “When I walked into rehearsals, the first thing Amy said to me was: ‘You need to forget everything you have learned.’ My wife is a professional dancer in a commercial style, and when I went back home and showed her the video she said: ‘What even is that? I don’t understand.’ There’s this misconception about what I can do, but none of the members of JLS are trained dancers, not one of us. There has been no stage school, no dance classes. Yes, the performance element has been helpful, but every style is different.

“And I can’t attack this in the way that I would attack it if we were performing in a stadium show, because that would be a disaster. At the launch show, what I was trying to do was literally to walk in a straight line, a simple two step forward. But I have never been more nervous than I was at that moment, because I’m used to making everything big. Instead I had to do something that is alien to me, but also control it, and make it elegant and classy. I was terrified of Craig Revel Horwood saying: ‘Darling, you can’t even walk in a straight line.”

JB Gill with his family ( 
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jbgill/Instagram)Don’t Miss 

Last week saw JB and Amy – who topped the leaderboard in week one – reach third place with their cha cha cha to Closer by Ne-Yo. And tonight they take on the American Smooth to Willy Wonka track Pure Imagination. JB smiled: “My kids were absolutely buzzing when they realised I was dancing to Pure Imagination – they were like: ‘We love that, amazing Dad.’ But they will hold me to account because they know everything about the movie.

“Afterwards they could well be like: ‘You didn’t do it like that, that wasn’t very good, Daddy.’ My daughter Chiara is completely infatuated with the show. Last week she watched it four times, she had it on on the way to football and on the way back. Then she watched the results show as well. Amy bought her a pair of dance shoes, and she hasn’t taken them off, apart from when she goes to bed – and then they are lined up next to her bed.

“She was in tears last week because she couldn’t stay after rehearsals to watch the show live, because she’s too young. But it’s lovely to have that break on Sunday and we all watch the show together. Last Sunday my legs were absolutely finished – the cha cha is no joke – so this week it has been a relief to be back in hold. Of course there’s pressure – there’s always going to be pressure when you are on a live show in front of millions, even if you can’t necessarily see them. But for me, it’s more about the pressure to get things right. Amy will tell you I’m a bit of a perfectionist, and I want to do a good job.

“It’s a competition of course, but all of the celebrities are in a similar boat. We’re learning different styles, our bodies are going through different things – pain after pain after pain – and at end of day want to put the best routine you can out there. I’m very much a team player – I want to do the best I can do, but if someone else’s best is better than mine, let’s celebrate that. I’ll then either go away and work on improving or accept it. We are all here to have fun, and that is exactly what we are doing.”

Strictly is on tonight at 6.15pm on BBC1 and BBC iPlayer. Listen to JB and Amy’s full interview at www.podfollow.com/inviteonly